Suit Filed to Save Idaho Wolves, Lynx and Grizzlies

The Center for Biological Diversity and our allies filed suit Monday over Idaho’s extremist wolf-killing rules, which allow the slaughter of up to 90% of the state’s wolves. Expanded trapping and snaring will also hurt and kill grizzly bears and Canada lynx — both federally protected species. So we also filed for a restraining order to halt wolf trapping in grizzly habitat till the case is decided.

“It’s sickening that Idaho has approved what amounts to unregulated hunting and trapping,” said Andrea Zaccardi, a senior attorney at the Center. “Federally protected grizzly bears and lynx will be injured or die in these cruel traps and snares, too. The state’s disregard for all of their lives is outrageous and unacceptable.”

Help us save these animals and many others with a matched gift to our Saving Life on Earth Fund.

In Ecuador, a Forest Has Legal Rights

Ecuador’s highest court just ruled that the country’s constitutional provision on the “rights of nature” applies to the Los Cedros cloud forest, home to precious wildlife including endangered brown-headed spider monkeys and spectacled bears.

That will help safeguard this beautiful, biodiverse place from mining concessions granted to two thirds of the Los Cedros reserve. It will also spur the court to develop more legal structure upholding the rights of nature, the right to a healthy environment, the right to water, and other forms of environmental protection.

“This progressive and innovative ruling recognizes that nature can and does have rights,” said Alejandro Olivera, the Center’s Mexico representative.

Say No to Massive Offshore Oil-Export Facilities

As a candidate, President Biden promised to protect our climate, wildlife and communities from toxic oil and gas development — but he hasn’t delivered. His administration is considering greenlighting two new massive offshore oil-export facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, each capable of loading nearly 2 million barrels of crude per day.

The proposed projects, known as SPOT and Bluewater, would spew air pollution, bring oil spills and worsen the climate emergency.

Tell the Biden administration to keep its climate promise and reject these mega-polluting projects.

$40,000+ Reward for Info on Oregon Wolf Poisonings

Twelve conservation groups, including the Center, have pledged thousands of dollars to a reward for information leading to a conviction in the deliberate poisoning deaths of eight gray wolves in Oregon, bringing the total above $40,000.

“In 21 years, 31 Oregon wolves have been poisoned, shot or trapped illegally,” said the Center’s Amaroq Weiss. “People kill wolves because they hate them or fear them, and tragically there’s never been an adequate public-education program in Oregon or any state to combat that mindset.”

Petition Filed to Save Wildlife From Fishing Gear

In a landmark step to save whales and sea turtles from deadly entanglements, the Center just petitioned the federal government to require trap fisheries to convert to ropeless gear. We’ve filed lawsuits that have improved fishing gear regulations, but still every year hundreds of ocean animals — including critically endangered North Atlantic right whales — get tangled up and drown in antiquated gear. Requiring a transition to ropeless gear will boost technological advances and investments that bring down the gear’s cost.

“Whales, sea turtles and other animals shouldn’t have to suffer and die from entanglements,” said the Center’s Kristen Monsell.

Another Win Against Mojave Water Grab

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has moved to scrap another bad Trump decision — which the Center and allies challenged in court — illegally granting a pipeline right-of-way through California public land without a real study of potential harms. In 2019 we won a lawsuit against an earlier approval of an existing railroad right-of-way for the 43-mile pipeline.

“This massive water-privatization scheme would dry up Mojave Desert springs and seeps that support kit foxes, desert tortoises and other rare California species,” said Ileene Anderson, a scientist at the Center. “So it’s wonderful that the Biden administration is righting this wrong.”

Activist, Botanist Honored With Center Awards

The Center just awarded the 2021 Rose Braz Award for Bold Activism to John Beard Jr., an environmental justice activist who has become a leader in fighting fossil fuel development. This year he helped lead October’s historic People vs. Fossil Fuels week of action in Washington, and he brought a powerful voice to last month’s U.N. climate talks in Glasgow.

This week we also honored Naomi Fraga with our 2021 E.O. Wilson Award for Outstanding Science in Biodiversity Conservation. A conservation botanist and director of conservation at the California Botanic Garden, Fraga rose to international prominence because of her advocacy for the rare plant Tiehm’s buckwheat, and engages in direct conservation, monitoring and habitat restoration of more than 30 other rare, threatened or endangered plants across California and Nevada.

Petrochemical facilities in the Houston Ship Channel

Revelator: People Over Plastic

A new podcast tells stories by, for and about Black, Indigenous and people of color who are working for solutions to the plastic crisis.

Read The Revelator’s interview with the founder of People Over Plastic, Shilpi Chhotray. And if you haven’t yet, subscribe to the free weekly newsletter.

That’s Wild: Bees Survived 50 Days Under Volcano Ash

When the Cumbre Vieja volcano blew back in September, it let loose lava, rocks, gas and ash across the island of La Paloma, part of Spain’s Canary Islands. Thousands of people were forced to evacuate.

In at least one instance, several honeybee hives were completely covered in ash, and a beekeeper feared the worst on his return (about 50 days after the eruption). But the bees — Canary black bees, numbering in the tens of thousands — had survived. They’d sealed their hive with bee glue and munched on their own supply of sweet, sweet honey.